Into the Wild - Spoiler Thread

[Ron]

Greg wrote: "One of my Goodreads friends in another group shared with me about a later book written by Chris' sister Carine. According to her, there were a lot of things that weren't made public out of respect ..."

I read this book a while back, right around its release date. It's been a long while so it's certainly one I want to read again. I might this year. If not in July then certainly in August.

I don't remember much, other than she gave more details as to their family lives, the secrets that Chris seemed to be running from, and such.

[Ron]

Katy wrote: "On August 18, 1992, Chris passed away. Krakauer notes that, "one of his last acts was to take a picture of himself, standing near the bus under the high Alaska sky, one hand holding his final note ..."

Tricky question. I want to say yes, despite that it must have been somewhat agonizing, but you can tell from the picture at just how happy he was. Sometimes our own piece of happiness is enough. Despite what he went through, despite what people may think, he lived his life according to his rules.

Did he think he was going to die or of the possibility of death? I'm not sure that can be answered, but I do believe that people can find peace in their final hours or final days without them realizing it.

[Greg]

Enjoyed reading yoir thoughts Ron and glad to have you join us in the read!

[J_BlueFlower]

Ron wrote: " They had to remove it because of how dangerous it was because of those people. .."

"Two additional hikers died attempting to reach Bus 142. In 2010, Claire Ackermann of Switzerland drowned trying to cross the Teklanika River. She had tied herself to a rope spanning the fast-moving river, but lost her footing and drowned before she could be cut free. In 2019, Veranika Nikanava of Belarus also drowned while trying to cross the river while tied to a rope. ....

In June 2020, .... to remove the bus, deemed a public safety hazard after the deaths of Ackermann and Nikanava and numerous visitor rescue incidents."
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamped...

[J_BlueFlower]

Ron wrote: "I'll see about doing a re-read of the book in the 10 days there are left for this thread...."

You have all the time you need. The tread does not close. Many people keep reading new post well after the month is out.

[J_BlueFlower]

To all those that say he was ill-prepared: Why do you say so?

He did not bring a map, is not an answer to me: Bringing a map would have made the trip another one than he wanted. It is like asking someone who wants to go swimming to bring a boat ‘for safety reasons’.

Why do you say he was ill-prepared?

[Savita]

Nice to read your comments , Ron .

[Savita]

Ron wrote: "Savita wrote: "I am reading chapter 4 . It's sad that McCandless didn't tell any of his family members about his plans . He flouted road and traffic laws . Called himself Alex Supertramp !! He felt..."

Yes , when I read chapter 12 , I understood how much the relationship between Chris and his parents deteriorated after the silent discovery of Walt 's first marriage . I feel for Chris .

[Pamela]

I’ve just finished this and felt sad at the loss of an idealistic, perhaps immature, but gifted and resilient young man. Luck certainly has a part to play in surviving a great adventure, as Krakauer shows with his own example, although I found that part less engaging and think it could have been briefer and made the same point. Maybe the result of stretching out an article to make it into a book? Overall I enjoyed the book and think it was a good choice for discussion

[Ron]

How many of you have seen the movie?

It's one of my favorites. Sean Penn did an amazing job with it. It really brings into perspective as to what Chris went through. I love all of the natural places he experienced and the music by Eddie Vedder made the movie even more engaging and almost spiritual.

My dad is a park ranger, so we watch the movie every year before he leaves. We find the beauty in it. Despite Chris and what he went through with his family and how he was naive about it all, here was a man living out the life he wanted to live and seeing the things he wanted to see.

Of course, there are vast differences between the book and the movie which is to be expected, but overall I think the movie does an excellent job with the source material.

[Greg]

Ron wrote: "How many of you have seen the movie?

It's one of my favorites. Sean Penn did an amazing job with it. It really brings into perspective as to what Chris went through. I love all of the natural plac..."

I haven't seen it yet Ron, but it's great the way you watch it with your dad and have that way of connecting. Sounds like the two of you are close. That's something to treasure!

Now that I've read the book, I will definitely watch the movie at some point.

[Greg]

Pamela wrote: "I’ve just finished this and felt sad at the loss of an idealistic, perhaps immature, but gifted and resilient young man. Luck certainly has a part to play in surviving a great adventure, as Krakaue..."

I like the way you put this and agree with it Pamela!

For me, the parts where Krakauer describes his own climbing were so evocative and full of great details (like that arresting and strange deer swimming the ocean at night) that I found those chapters gripping. But like the historical climbing chapters, they do shift the focus away from Chris specifically to larger questions, and I can see how they would feel like a diversion.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "...Bringing a map would have made the trip another one that he wanted. It is like asking someone who wants to go swimming to bring a boat ‘for safety reasons’."

This is my favorite comment in the discussion so far. ;-)

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Ron wrote: "...I'll see about doing a re-read of the book in the 10 days there are left for this thread."

Welcome, Ron! The discussion thread will stay open even after the end of June so you are always free to post comments.

I'm curious: what about this book makes it your #3 all time favorite? And you mention that your father is a park ranger. Has he read the book? If so what did he think about it? Has he met people like Chris through his job?

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "...Why do you say he was ill-prepared?"

Well, he didn't bring much food with him and, as has been pointed out in the book, there wasn't much to hunt or forage at that time of year. He also didn't have much in the way of equipment; I think the driver who gave him a ride to the trailhead had to loan him a pair of weather-appropriate boots. I think the lack of a map was the least of his problems.

[J_BlueFlower]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Well, he didn't bring much food with him and, as has been pointed out in the book, there wasn't much to hunt or forage at that time of ..."

He had what he needed otherwise he would not have lasted 100+ days.

[Armin]

I just finished it and am not sure what to make of it. I'm not a big fan of Krakauer's writing. It feels like a big journalist report of Chris' story mixed with various digressions. Although he tried to make Chris sympathetic, I didn't feel much for him. I liked the story about the Devils Thumb ascent. Other than that, it was a poor attempt to make a novel out of a news story.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

117 posts! (Now 118, actually.) That was a pretty good discussion!

[Tom]

I am a fan of Krakauer's work, but this may have been his first book, and it shows.

[J_BlueFlower]

I have seen the movie now too. I can see why people would call him ill-prepared from seeing the movie: Going solo white water in a kayak. No experience and no helmet. In the book it was a canoe and no white water. Quite a difference.

In the movie the picture of the poisonous plant is right next page. It looks like he did not even read the book. In the book he does not mistake plants, and he spends some day studying edible plants at the university library before leaving.

There are other similar differences.

I still have not seen any convincing reasons - based on the book - for calling him ill-prepared.